Lubricator.



. E.. MocoY.

LUBBIUATOB.

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Patented Nov. 1'0, 1908.

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UNiTEDsTATEs PATENT orrioii.

ELIJAH MCCOY, 0F DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO YP'SILANTI LUBRICATORCOMPANY,

YPSILANTI, MIQEIGA., A. CCRPQRATION QF MICHIGAN.

LUBRICATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 10, 1908.

Application led March 11, 1903. Serial No. 147,341.

To all' whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELIJAH MoCoY, residing at Detroit, in the county ofWayne and State of Michigan, a citizen of the United States, haveinvented certain nevsr and useful Improvements in Lubricators, of whichthe following is a specification, reference being had therein to theaccompanying drawinos.

s:Ihe invention relates to improvements in lubricators, and is moreparticularly designed for use in connection with engines or locomotivesoperating under high steam pressure.

The invention has more special reference to a construction of lubricatorin which the lubricant is positively fed to the cylinder or otherbearing to be lubricated against high pressure, and it is the specialobject of the present construction to provide means for controlling thefeeding of oil so as to secure uniformity of action under varyingconditions.

Heretofore lubricators have been constructed in which the lubricant isfed to the cylinder by the action of a positive plunger ump. Regulatorshave also been provided or artially controlling the feeding of the oili'om said pump under varying back pressures from the engine cylinder.Experience has demonstrated however that to secure a uniform feeding ofthe oil under all conditions is a very difficult problem. Thus, at timesthe oil is more fluid than at other times, due to differences intemperature, and as a consequence the feed is varied. Again, where theoil is fed by gravity to the force pump or is drawn therein by thesuction of said pump, the feed will be varied according to the height ofthe oil in the tank. Again, under certain conditions the back pressurefrom the cylinder will rise to a igher point than even the full boilerpressure, which will result in the variation of the oil feed.

In the present invention it is an object to secure a sight oil feedwhich may be adjusted according to the requirements of the work and willnot be changed by the variable conditions above referred to.

To this end the invention consists first in the peculiar construction ofa regulator for governing the feed of the oil in the tallow pipe.Further in the peculiar construction and combination with a positiveforce feed for the lubricant, of an adjustable sight feed and regulatorfor securing uniformity of action in all adjustments. Hui-ther in thepeculiar construction of a heater for retaining the oil at uniformtemperature when fed from the tank, and further in the peculiarconstruction, arrangement and combination of parts as hereinafterdescribed and claimed.

In the drawings higure l is a diagram illustrating the various parts andconnections comprising my improved lubricator. llig. 2 is a perspectiveView of the lubricator as arranged in connection with a locomotiveboiler. liig. 3 is a section through the governor for the tallow pipe.Fig. et is a horizontal section through the oil tank showing theconstruction and arrangement of a heater therefor. Fig. 5 is a verticalsection substantially on line -m Fig. 4.

Generally described, my improved lubricator comprises a steam operatedforce pump A, an oil tank B, a sight feed C intermediate said tank andpump, a governor D controlling the feeding of the pump into the tallowpipes, and governing devices for controlling the uniform feeding of theoil in the sight feed, as Will be hereinafter set forth.

For propelling the oil through the sight feed, I preferably employ ahydrostatic feed comprising a condenser E having a steam connection FWith the boiler, and a conduit G for the condensation extending to thebottom of the oil tank.

H is the oil discharge pipe which extends from the top of the chamberWithin the tank downward and outward through the fitting I which formsthe base of the sight feed. This sight feed is provided with the usualtransparent tube a Which is filled With Water, and the oil nozzle b atthe base thereof controlled by the valve c. The upper end of the tube ais connected in the fitting J Which forms the connection to the conduitK leading to the suction chamber of the pump, and also has preferablyformed therein the connections for the heater.

The heater consists of a radiator L extending into and across the tanknear the upper end thereof. This radiator may be formed integral with orconnected to the fitting J, and connected with the tank by a screwthreaded engagement as indicated at d. The inner end of the radiator isclosed by a plug e and its outer end communicates with a channel fformed in the fitting J and f; g and connecting With the conduit K. The

arrangement just described is such that the flow of steam from theconduit M to the radiator L is governed by the valve N and thecondensation of the steam is discharged through the restricted ports hinto the passage i Where it is free to flow back into the ube a toreplenish the Water in the sight eed.

Intermediate the fitting J and the conduit i K is arranged a governorfor regulating the flow of oil Which is of the following construction: His a casing in Which is formed the diaphragm m, having formedtherethrough the ports 0 and p. The port o is adapted to be closed by avalve O which is in the nature of a check valve, and is slidinglysecured in the cylindrical casing g. This casing is connected to a steamconduit P leading from a source of steam at boiler pressure, and'admitting said steam into the casing so as to bear upon the end of thevalve With the arrangement just described the valve O is normally heldto its Seat by steam pressure and can only be 1 opened Where thepressure in the chamber z' and acting upon the lower endl of the valve Ois in excess of the pressure acting upon the upper end of the saidvalve, as Will be hereinafter set forth.

The valve O is provided With a channel 7' therein which is sufficient topermit the condensation accumulatin in the casing g above the valve todrain into the casing lc. Whenever the valve O is o ened it will pass Lthrough the ports 0 and will ow back into the tube a, thus the Water inthe sight feed may be replenished from this source as Well as from theheater L, so that even when the heater is out of operation as in WarmWeather, there Will be no lack of Water in the sight feed.

The oil passing through the conduit K is fed into the pump A, whichlatter may be of any suitable construction, and as it forms no part ofthe subject matter of the present invention the detail construction isnot shown. From the pump A the oil is forced through the conduits Q andQ, which connect with the talloW pipes R R', and intermediate each ofthese conduits and its tallow pipe is arranged the regulator D.

As has been previousy stated, under certain conditions the back pressurefrom the engine may equal or even exceed that of the boiler, while atother times a suction is produced lwhich Will reduce the pressure tobelow atmosphere. To secure uniform feeding of the oil under thesevarying conditions, the regulator D is preferably formed ofthe followingconstruction: s is the casing containing the diaphragm t Which has theport u therein. v is a valve seated on the diaphragm t so as to closethe port u. A portion of the body of this valve is preferably of uniformdiameter, and is slidingly f' .secured in a cylindrical portion w of thecasing. The outer end m of the valve is however of larger diameter, andis cup shaped, as shown at y. This portion is also slidingly arranged ina cylinder .e forming a part of the casing. S is a steam conduitconnecting With the cylinder e, and leading from a source of steam atthe boiler pressure. Thus the area exposed to pressure at the upper endof the valve is in excess of the .it

area. actedl upon by the oil When propelled by the pump, andconsequently the valve can only be opened Where the pressure in the oilconduit is considerably in excess of boiler pressure.

The parts being constructed as shown and described, the operation is asfollows: The pump A when in operation is adapted to deliver oil at apressure considerably greater than the pressure in the boiler, andsufficient i i to overcome the resistance of the valve o. At the sametime the resistance of said valve being constant it will prevent theaction of the pump from varying with variations of pressure in thctallow pipe due to the diff'er- 'i'' ence in back pressure from theengine. The valve will also always be forced to its seat at the end ofeach stroke of the pump, even Where the back pressure in the talloW pipeis in excess of the boiler pressure. This Would not be the case if thearea of the upper end of the valve were only equal to that of the lowerend, for the reason that then the valve when once opened would besubjected to the pressure developed Within the talloW pipe,

and if this were greater than boiler pressure the valve Would remainopen. With my irnprovedv construct-ion ressure on the upper end of thevalve is su cient to close it under the highest back pressure that isever developed in the tallovv pipe.

By making the upper end of the valve cupshaped any sediment Which maycollect With the condensation in the pipe S Will be lodged in the cupand Will not find its Way between the valve and its bearing in thecylinder, thus the danger which might otherwise occur of the valvebecoming fast is avoided- The regulator D is adapted to regulate theaction of the pump A so as to secure a uniform propelling of the oil bysaid pump. it not hess ver any govern the operation ofthe sight feed,and as a consequence the amount of oily actually delivered by the pumpmay be varied according to the y t entwof the feed. The amount of oil*vered flom the tank L is primaril dea 'y d b the adjustmentk of the vave c j Fates the passageflninklilxgl to the intitule b. This valvealone'would owever btlrfinadeguate to the securing of an absolwtltlyuniform feed, were it not for the other "f'ces pro 'ded. One essentialto the unifeeding of the oil is that it should be delivered to thenozzle b under constant v ure. This is accomplished by means ofhydrostatic feed in which the pressure acting upon the oil is alwaysequal to boiler re plus the weight of the hydrostatic callumn in thecondenser E. Another essenis that the suction from the pump be uniform.y It is obvious that where the amount of oil fed to the pump is lessthan the capacity of the pump that the latter will produce a varyingsuction in the conduit K and this would cause a varying feed through thenmzle b. To prevent such an action the port p through the diaphragm m issuiciantly restricted so as to be capable of feeding only a minimumamount of oil to the conduit K, and where a greater quantity is y'through the sight feed 1t will be compelled to pass through the port oby lifting the valve O. As however the valve O is constantly acted uponby the pressure of steam in the conduit P it will be returned to itsseat as soon as the oil is delivered thirough the port o or it will beheld in a poi aition to restrict said ort according to the amount of oilpassed t erethrough.

y Another essential condition to the uniform feeding of the oil is thatit be approximately of the same temperature. This may be acoomplished bymeans of the heater L and .i the valve N governing the same, thus incold i.k 1weather the valve N may be o ned to admit lilicient steam intothe ra lator so as to raise the temperature of the oil therein, and whenthe valve is once set in the proper po- [dition it will maintain the oilat the required y. tamperature until a change of condition ret anotheradjustment. In this connection it may be said that the condensation l'50 from the heater L being discharged into the chamber i in which thereis a constant resaure, the amount of heat radiated wi be maintaineduniform.

" Another essential condition to the uniform Heading ofthe oil is thepresence of a fluid in the pipe K which will uniformly carry the nil tothe suction of the pump. Inasmuch as the quantity of oil fed by thelubricator is varied from time to time,

it is obvious that at times the amount fed will occupy but a small partof the capacity of the conduit. 1f there were no other medium in thecon- 4t'luit, the suction of the pump would have vno elect in thefeeding of the oil which' fed by gravity. Should an accumulation occurthen the oil passing directly from the sight feed would be held in theconduit for a considerable time before finally entering the pump.

With my construction the accumulation of oil in the conduit is avoidedby the introduction of steam through the restricted ports. The steam soadmitted acts as an expansible medium in the conduit K which at eachsuction of the pump propels the oil forward in the conduit so that it isuniformly delivered to the pump.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a lubricator, the combination with a force pump for positivelypropelling the oil, of a hydrostatic feed comprising an oil tank andsteam condenser for delivering the oil to said pump.

2. In a lubricator,

the combination with a force pump for positively ropellin the oil, of anoil tank, a conduit t rough w ich the oil from said tank is delivered tothe suction of said pump, and means for introducing into said conduit, afluid medium at greater than atmospheric pressure forming a vehicle forconveying the oil uniformly to said pum 3. Iln a lubricator, thecombination with a force pump for positively propelling the oil, :n ofan oil tank, a conduit connecting said tank with the suction of saidpump, a check in said conduit, and means for introducin into saidconduit on the pump side of sai check a fluid medium at greater thanatmospheric pressure constituting a vehicle for conveIying the oiluniformly to the pump.

4. n a lubricator, the combination with a force pump for positivelypropelling the oil, of an oil tank, a conduit connectlng said tank withthe suction of said pump, a partition in said conduit having arestricted port therethrough and another port of greater area, a checkvalve normall closing the larger port, a hydrostatic fee for deliveringthe oil from said tank and having a condenser subjected to steampressure, means for subjecting said check valve to a relatively e ualsteam pressure whereb the differentia pressure actin upon sai valve is eual to that developer? by the hydrostatic co umn, and means forintroducing into said conduit beyond said valve fluid mediumconstituting a vehicle for conveying the oil uniformlly to said pump.

5. n a lubricator, the combination with a force pump for positivelypropellin the oil, of an oil tank, an oil delivery conduit connectingsaid tank with the suction of said pump, a hydrostatic feed fordelivering the oil into said conduit, and means for also introducing afluid medium therein and a sight feed in said oil delivery conduit.

6. In a lubricator, the combination with a rivould either accumulate 1nthe conduit or be fluid operated force pump for positively season,

propelling' the oil of a tallow i into which. the-oil is delivered, acheck gli controlling the oil discharge into said tallow pipe, and meansfor maintaining a resistance to the ripening of said valve which isproportion to the pressure actuating said pump and is in excess of themaximum back pressure developed in said tallow pipe. f 7. In alulfuicator, thei oombinatlon with 1a orce lump, or positive y ro ellithe oi of a tlallow pipe into which pthe Iblirl is delivered from saidpump, a check valve controllin the discharge from said pump into said talow pipe, sald valve being ,provided with an enlar ed head, a cylinder1n which said head is idingly secured, and a steam connection betweenvsaid cylinder and the boiler whereby said head is subjected to apressure in excess of the maximum back pressure developed n said tallowpipe and operating upon said valve.

8. I-n a lubricator, the combination with an oil tank, of a hydrostaticsight feed for delivering the oil therefrom, and the litting J formingthe discharge connection from said sight feed, said fitting havi thethreaded nipple d adapted to engage t e corresponding y threadedaperture in the tank, the radiator L extending from said nipple intokthe tank, a steam inlet connection to said fitting, the valve Ncontrolling said steam Inlet connection to said fittintg, said ttinghavingthe passage f therein or connectin said steam Inlet connectionwith said rad1- ator, and having the restricted port h for deliveringthe condensation into the sight eed.

9. In a lubricator, the combination with an oil tank, of a hydrostaticsight feed for- In testimony whereof I aix my signature in presence oftwo witnesses.

ELIJ AH MCCOY.

Witnesses:

M. B. ODoGHER'rY, G. U. LATOUR.

